


Present

by FuryTigresse



Series: After The Nightmare [5]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Presents, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Post Devil May Cry 5, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 10:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18602683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuryTigresse/pseuds/FuryTigresse
Summary: It's Nero's birthday, and this time it's Vergil who struggles to find something for his son.





	Present

**Author's Note:**

> This story happens directly after _Turning the Page_ (literally the day after the events of that one). Basically I just wanted to write something quick and happy because Nero deserves this :p
> 
> English isn't my first language, let me know if you see weird sentences and/or typos!

The morning was young, but Kyrie was already up and about, preparing food. For once, it wasn't because the kids needed her attention. It wasn't because Nero had to leave early on some demon hunt either. No, this time, she was excited to be up so early. Indeed, today was Nero's birthday and she had to make sure everything would be perfect. It was a bit of a last minute kind of thing, but she couldn't be blamed; after all, she had only learned about it the day before, when Vergil had joined her and let her know - and told her to keep it a secret from Nero until the little party they'd throw him.

Obviously, Kyrie had celebrated Nero's birthday before, but it had always been the day he had been found at the orphanage, about a month later than his _actual_ birthday. She supposed that made sense; if she _had_ to give up her child, she'd probably take a good while to find the resolution to do so. Maybe some people would be willing to get rid of a newborn, but certainly not Kyrie, and she supposed Nero's mother, Anna, hadn't been able to do it either.

Anyway, Nero's birthday being earlier than she was used to didn't change much for Kyrie, except that she hadn't had time to go get him a present yet. That was fine, Nero would understand, so she didn't stress out about it, unlike a certain someone who had just entered the kitchen, bed head and everything.

"Good morning, Vergil."  
"..."  
"I've made some tea, if you'd like a cup."

She chuckled as the half-demon stumbled his way to the teapot and poured himself a cup, ice blue eyes at half mast, his hair down. He looked more like Dante, without his signature hairstyle, but Kyrie made sure not to comment on that. She knew that Vergil, despite being up every morning before sunrise, wasn't exactly an early bird. Waking up extra early wasn't because he wanted to be _functional_ at this hour, but more so that he could get mentally prepared for the day ahead.

Or, in this case, it was because he was... not nervous, not anxious, but... unsettled. He had learned about Nero's birthday the day before too when Anna had told him about it, and he had had no time to really figure out a present for his son. He _knew_ it wasn't required, but Nero had gotten him something for _his_ birthday, and also for Father's Day, so he felt like he _had_ to get him something that wasn't just his presence in Fortuna. He had tried to sleep on it, but the night hadn't helped and now Vergil was trying to find something that his son would like and that he didn't already have. It was harder than it seemed, but Vergil refused to ask Kyrie for help. He wanted to find his own idea.

"Thank you for the tea," he said quietly once he was done with his cup.  
"It was my pleasure. Have you found an idea for Nero's present?"  
"Unfortunately, I have not-"

His eyes landed on a nearby chair with some clothes on it. They had been thrown there a little carelessly, but Vergil could still see something that inspired him.

Holes.

A bunch of them in Nero's shirt, even _more_ in Nero's jacket. Kyrie followed his gaze and chuckled.

"I need to patch those. We don't have the means to get him new clothes every time a demon slashes them."  
_Interesting._ "Do they not repair themselves over time?" he asked, curious.  
"No? Why?"  
"Simply curious." _Very_ interesting.

Vergil went to the guest room after that. He got dressed, did his hair, then grabbed his long coat, observing it. No scratch, no pulled thread. He unsheathed the Yamato and cut a bit of the coat. A few minutes later, the piece of clothing had mended itself. Just as he had thought. He couldn't remember ever walking around with holes in his clothes for more than a few minutes. There had to be a reason for it, and now that he was really thinking about it, it _had_ to be demonic energy. He was constantly emitting some, and he had had this coat for a long time, enough that it had changed and darkened from his energy getting corrupted, turning from blue to black with bluish accents. His demonic power allowed _him_ to regenerate, so why not his clothes too? That had to be it, and it gave him an idea.

***

"Hey, jackass! I know you're up!" Nero called out while knocking on the guest room's door. He got no answer, which made him frown. It was like, ten in the morning. He hadn't found Vergil elsewhere in the house, so he _had_ to be hiding in there with a book, right? His father was never asleep past sunrise.

"Come on, old man, I _know_ you're awake!"

Still no answer. Uh. Nero opened the door, worry settling in his heart. He expected a blade at his throat maybe, or a cold glare accompanied by a deep scowl, but instead he found himself facing an empty room. That was worse than having a pissed-off Dark Slayer trying to stab him for interrupting his reading session. Nero immediately backtracked to the kitchen, where he knew Kyrie was.

"Kyrie! Do you know where my father is? I can't find him anywhere."

Fine, he was freaking out a little, but he had the right to, damn it! Vergil was a master at disappearing quietly without a trace, and he had the Yamato, so he could very well have decided that he just wanted to go home even if he had said he'd stay for one more day.

"Hmm? Oh, he just went to buy eggs for me. I asked him to go get some," Kyrie reassured him with a smile.  
"Oh." Well. Okay. Nero calmed down at that, sighing a little. "Sorry."  
"It's okay. Why don't you go join the kids? Since you're home and your father isn't available to fight with you," she teased him a bit.  
"I wasn't-! Okay, fine, maybe I _was_ looking for him for that. Whatever. I'll go play with the boys."

Kyrie went back to her cooking, smiling to herself when Nero left the room. That _might_ have been a little lie. She didn't even know that Vergil was gone, but she trusted him to be on the hunt for a birthday present.

When the half-demon came back, warping into the kitchen to avoid being seen by others, Kyrie smiled at him. "Ah, Vergil. Nero was looking for you. I told him I asked you to go buy some eggs."

She looked at the bag he was carrying. She was just a normal human, but even she could feel that the item in there was overflowing with demonic energy.

"Thank you for covering for me."  
"It was my pleasure, but there's a catch: could you _actually_ go buy eggs for me, please? I need more to make a triple recipe of Nero's favorite cake."  
"Triple? Why?"  
"I think you know why."

Vergil sighed, mildly annoyed. He did know why. Damn it.

"Very well."  
"Thank you! I'll wrap the gift in the meantime."  
"I'll be going, then."

He left the gift in Kyrie's care, then created a portal to go get those eggs.

***

The silence was suspicious. Actually, Nero was feeling vaguely paranoid because _everything_ that had happened that day so far was suspicious. Since when did his father accept mundane chores such as going to get eggs? And since when did Kyrie ask the kids to come help out, but told him to stay out? His father staying out of sight wasn't unusual, but that was the _only_ normal thing so far during the day, and it was almost one in the afternoon.

The young Devil Hunter carefully made his way into the house, frowning. He could hear some noises from the dining room. That was fine, Kyrie had called him from the window to tell him that food was ready. What was weird, however, was the general silence. The kids were usually chatting, there were plates clinking, laughter to be heard. But this time, there was none of that, and Nero could just hear breathing. More than he should have heard, actually. Julio, Carlo, Kyle, Kyrie, Nico, and his father... but also three, no, four more. His hand was on the Blue Rose when he turned the corner.

"Happy birthday, Nero!"

Nero jumped in surprise. Happy... birthday? It wasn't- what the...

"Wha- what?" was all he managed to say.  
"It's your real birthday, kid," Dante explained with a grin.  
"So we're here to celebrate," Lady said with a casual shrug, like it was normal for them to be there.  
"Don't just stay there! Come in," Trish huffed.  
"Ah, he's feelin' a little shy," Morrison laughed.  
"I think he's just surprised," Kyrie chuckled as she walked to him, taking his hand to pull him with the others.

Surprised? Understatement of the century. Nero was _speechless_. His _actual_ birthday? What? He was about to ask how they even knew, but his eyes landed on Vergil before he could. His father's intense gaze was... even more intense than usual. Like he wanted him to understand something.

And then it clicked. The day before. Anna, his _mother_ , taking time off every year around that time, like the librarian had said. Vergil, his _father_ , saying he'd stay for one more day even if he didn't really like being with other people that much. And all the weird shit that had happened that day so far.

His real birthday? With Dante and the others, who couldn't have made it so quickly without a good old portal opened by the Yamato? Nero found himself fighting back the emotions that were welling up inside him. Devil may cry but god damn it he wasn't going to do it right there and then. He still had some pride left.

"Holy shit," he breathed out instead, and for once Kyrie didn't scold him for his language.

***

By the time the party slowed down a little and everyone was stuffed full of food, Nero felt light-headed and deeply, incredibly _happy_. Nobody had a present for him but really, he absolutely didn't mind, first because _they_ were _present_ \- he mentally cringed at that word play - and that was more than enough, and second because they obviously hadn't had time to get him anything and that was absolutely understandable.

What he hadn't expected, however, was Vergil leaving and coming back with a box that was overflowing with demonic energy.

"... for me?" Nero asked, taking it and staring at his father.  
"Well duh! It's _your_ birthday, handsome devil!" Nico answered in Vergil's stead, which made the half-demon's expression harden slightly.

Nero opened the box before this could turn bad, careful with it. The lid first, then a first layer of blue wrapping paper, and a second of black wrapping paper, and a third of blue, and then suddenly, there it was: a jacket, similar to his favorite one, just as long, with a hood, but darker, almost black, with patterns on the sleeves. But the most important part was the energy filling it. Nero touched the material, and felt the origin of the power, recognized its cold aura. This was definitely Vergil's doing, fully, completely. The half-demon had bought a jacket he thought Nero would like, and then... and then he had poured demonic energy into it. A _lot_ of demonic energy. A lot of... of his soul, in a way. He looked back at his father, who pulled out the Yamato and nicked the jacket just a bit with the tip. Nero watched as the material mended itself. That... explained why his father and uncle had perfect clothes all the time. But, mostly, this felt...

He wordlessly took off his current jacket and put on the new one, closing his eyes for a second when he felt the energy surrounding him. It would do more than just repair the material, he could already tell. The jacket was the perfect size as well, and no doubt that Vergil had tried it on himself to find that out. Nero couldn't help a little grin. Fuck, he was happy.

He could hear slightly mocking remarks all around him, mostly aimed at Vergil, not at him, so he decided to ignore them. Vergil too had tuned them out. Father and son looked at each other, and a small smile found its way to Vergil's lips. He said nothing, but Nero heard it anyway.

_Happy birthday, son._

Nero's grin widened, and he nodded at his father. Hugging him was so damn tempting, but that would probably just have embarrassed them both. Maybe later though, when everyone else would be gone.

"Thank you, dad," he mouthed as the party started again.

Their family was a dysfunctional one, it absolutely was, but it was still his family. He _had one_ now, and he could learn more about his father, and his father could learn more about him. They existed in the same world now, could visit each other.

His new jacket rustled, the demonic energy given to it by Vergil reacting to Nero's thoughts. Having a family was really the best present he could have ever received.


End file.
